Deck 5: Biological Bases of Personality

Question 1

The traits of tough-mindedness,manipulation,and irresponsibility are associated with which of Eysenck's proposed dimensions of personality?

A)Extraversion
B)Neuroticism
C)Psychoticism
D)Both A and B
E)Both B and C

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Recall Cloninger's theory of the links between neurotransmitter levels and traits of temperament or personality.According to that theory,which of the following would describe a person who had a very active dopamine system,a very active serotonin system,and a very active norepinephrine system?

A)high Novelty Seeking,high Harm Avoidance,high Reward Dependence
B)low Novelty Seeking,low Harm Avoidance,low Reward Dependence
C)high Novelty Seeking,high Harm Avoidance,low Reward Dependence
D)low Novelty Seeking,high Harm Avoidance,low Reward Dependence
E)high Novelty Seeking,low Harm Avoidance,low Reward Dependence

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Communication between nerve cells involves an electrical impulse that causes the release of neurotransmitter substances from the ________ terminal of the sending neuron across the ________ to the ________ of the receiving neuron.

A)Synapse;axon;dendrite
B)Axon;synapse;dendrite
C)Axon;dendrite;synapse
D)Dendrite;synapse;axon
E)Dendrite;axon;synapse

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the behaviors associated with the third system in Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of personality.

A)A tendency to respond strongly to punishments but not to rewards.
B)A tendency to respond strongly to rewards but not to punishments.
C)A tendency to respond strongly to stimuli that have previously been associated with reward.
D)A tendency to fight,rather than flee,when faced with danger or threat.
E)A tendency to fight or to flee when faced with danger or threat.

Question 5

Which dimension of Cloninger's model is closest conceptually (and empirically)to the Behavioral Inhibition System ("stop" system)of Gray's model?

A)Reward Dependence
B)Novelty Seeking
C)Harm Avoidance
D)All three are about equally related.
E)None of the above;the two models represent wholly independent phenomena.

Question 6

Recall that research by Sheldon had initially suggested extremely strong links between body type and personality characteristics,but that later researchers found that the relations were actually very weak.Why were Sheldon's findings inaccurate?

A)His ratings of a given person's body type apparently influenced his ratings of that individual's personality characteristics.
B)His results were essentially a random "fluke",based on an extremely small sample of participants.
C)His research participants were selected from some special occupational groups in which certain body types and personality traits tend to go together.
D)His research participants were such extreme examples of each body type that the results do not apply to people in the normal range.
E)His participants' body types and personalities had been jointly affected by the administration of certain drugs that were taken for medical reasons.

Question 7

Pavlov proposed that dogs could be classified into four types on the basis of temperament: weak,strong unbalanced,strong balanced slow,and strong balanced mobile.These types were supposed to correspond to the temperaments associated with the "four humors" of ancient and medieval medicine.Which of the following lists of the latter types (i.e. ,those of the four humors)is given in the order that corresponds to the ordering of Pavlov's types in the above list?

A)Choleric,melancholic,sanguine,phlegmatic
B)Sanguine,choleric,phlegmatic,melancholic
C)Melancholic,choleric,phlegmatic,sanguine
D)Phlegmatic,sanguine,melancholic,choleric
E)Sanguine,phlegmatic,choleric,melancholic

Question 8

Persons' levels of which of the following hormones have consistently shown fairly strong associations with those persons' levels of the major personality dimensions?

A)Testosterone
B)Cortisol
C)Oxytocin
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 9

Which of the following statements can accurately describe the results of Geen's (1984)test of Eysenck's theory of Extraversion?
1)Extraverts preferred louder noises than did introverts
2)When noise was loud,extraverts had higher heart rates than did introverts
3)When noise was loud,extraverts performed better on a learning task than did introverts.

A)1 only
B)2 only
C)3 only
D)1 and 3
E)2 and 3

Question 10

How do the dimensions of Zuckerman's "alternative five" model of temperament or personality relate to those of the Big Five?

A)Because the two models have different origins,Zuckerman's factors are not comparable at all with the Big Five factors.
B)Three of Zuckerman's factors correspond closely to the three of the Big Five facors,but the other two are completely unrelated to the Big Five.
C)Each of Zuckerman's factors corresponds directly to one (and only one)of the Big Five.
D)Together,Zuckerman's factors correspond rather closely to the Big Five,but in some cases as combinations of two or more Big Five factors.
E)The relations have not yet been examined empirically.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about testosterone is NOT correct?

A)Women typically have less than one-tenth the level of testosterone that men do.
B)A large proportion of women actually have higher testosterone levels than do a large proportion of men.
C)Testosterone levels can fluctuate as a function of the time of day or of situations (such as competition or sexual activity).
D)Testosterone is secreted mainly by the testes (in men)and the ovaries (in women).
E)None of the above;all of these statements are correct.

Question 12

Personality trait levels consistently show fairly strong and theoretically meaningful associations with which of the following?

A)Blood type
B)Handwriting style
C)Astrological sign
D)A and B
E)None of the above

Question 13

In the experiment based on "lemon juice test" (Eysenck & Eysenck,1967),which of the following results was observed?

A)Introverted participants produced the most saliva in response to the lemon juice drops.
B)Extraverted participants produced the most saliva in response to the lemon juice drops.
C)Emotionally stable participants produced the most saliva in response to the lemon juice drops.
D)Neurotic participants produced the most saliva in response to the lemon juice drops.
E)Participants who were both extraverted and neurotic produced the most saliva in response to the lemon juice drops.

Question 14

How does Zuckerman's model of biologically-based personality dimensions differ from the models proposed by Cloninger,Gray,and Eysenck?

A)In Zuckerman's model,neurotransmitters,brain structures,and hormones are not considered to be important influences on personality.
B)In Zuckerman's model,one personality dimension is influenced by neurotransmitters,another by brain structures,and another by hormones.
C)In Zuckerman's model,each dimension is influenced by exactly one neurotransmitter,one brain structure,and one hormone.
D)In Zuckerman's model,the links between personality dimensions and neurotransmitters,brain structures,and hormones are more complex.
E)In Zuckerman's model,the role of blood type is emphasized in addition to that of neurotransmitters,brain structures,and hormones.